Madame Bovary

Author: Flaubert
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Madame Bovary, this brutal realist masterpiece, in a sense, is a reckoning with Romanticism and the Romantic novel. It extinguishes the unrealistic halo of fantasy, revealing the somber truth beneath. Without any inclination to dream, what you receive is a more authentic and harsh reality. This book is a true provincial of 19th-century France, and its perfect and rigorous linguistic style has been celebrated by later generations. The beautiful protagonist Emma is the only daughter of a wealthy farmer. Unable to be content with a mediocre life with her kind and honest husband, she engages in extramarital affairs twice, only to be abandoned by both lovers. Due to excessive spending, she accumulates heavy debts and is eventually forced to commit suicide. The renowned writer émile Zola called this book "the epitome of accurate and precise."